You can never have too much chocolate

These are some delicious chocolate cupcakes with a creamy chocolate ganache topping. Based on a recipe from Cupcakes by Elinor Klivans (I'm starting to feel like an Elinor groupie, but her recipes are great).

The original recipe calls for a mousse filling, but I left that out because the cupcakes were too crumbly.

Cupcakes (18 regular, 12 jumbo or 60 minis):
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temp
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. water

Using a double boiler, melt chocolate until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl (or electric mixer bowl), beat the butter and sugar until smoothly blended. On lower speed, mix in the melted chocolate. On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time and blend. Add the vanilla and mix until the batter is creamy and slightly lighter. Mix in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. On low speed, mix in half of the flour mixture. Mix in the water. Mix in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated. Do not overmix!
Fill cupcake papers to just below the top. These cupcakes do not rise as high.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan before you remove them.


Ganache:
I made this in a double boiler, but it can also be made in a small saucepan.
3/4 c. heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter. Add the whipping cream and continue heating until little bubbles form. Remove from heat and add the chocolate chips. Let the mixture sit 1 minute to allow chocolate to melt. Add the vanilla and whisk mixture until melted thoroughly.

The verdict:
The flavor on these was delicious! The cake was moist and very chocolately, but also crumbly. I was going to cut off the tops of the cupcakes and fill with mousse. However, I think they would have fallen apart, as some cupcakes did when I removed them from the pan. I will try them again with an extra tablespoon of flour to thicken the batter.

You can find the chocolate brown cupcake papers at www.confectioneryhouse.com
They have a nice variety of colors for about $3.50 a pack.